Have you ever seen black flowers?

Halloween Pick:

I, Tituba Black Witch of Salem
Maryse Conde

 Based on a real woman ( Tituba was the first woman to be accused, and to confess to, practicing witchcraft in Salem during the 17th century), Maryse Conde brings an old character back to life within the first few pages; her rendition is captivating and her prose is beautifully crafted. While this novel is the type that you cannot put down, beware for it is filled with harrowing tales of oppression and subjugation.

So long, and thanks for all the fish

Just when you think The Hitchhiker's guides couldn't get any better, they go and get Jonathan Burton to illustrate. 

If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't f*#% em!

                            

Milan Kundera

I'm not good at picking out favorites because it usually depends on my mood that day (only if I'm lucky, it can vary by the hour) but one author that always comes to mind when I'm drunkenly forcing novels down people's throats is Milan Kundera. The Unbearable Lightness of Being seems to be his most well known work and I was hooked. I finished that book in record timing (I'm the type that reads to the middle and then finds another book, reads the other book to the middle and then have to start all over again because I've forgotten much of the details) and inhaled his novellas (slowness is fantastic) and essays. His characters are never black and white, there always seems to be a gray ghost lurking in the corner somewhere and I love the air of mystery behind the developments.Aside from Unbearable Lightness, much of this early work is a political critique of totalitarianism, such as The Joke, and were banned due to their content. His ability to transform a traumatic past into a funny and poignant story is pure genius.

As a side note, I really love the new editions with his own sketchings on the cover.